What's His Passion 2 - Climbing the Savage Mountain (8 page)

“Shouldn’t one of you be getting on a knee and offering the other one a ring?” Cat jumped in. They frowned at her and she held up her hands. “I’m just saying. Those sounded like proposals to me.”

Toby rolled his eyes and Jensen snorted in disgust.

“It’s legal where you live, isn’t it?” Jigger tapped his fingers on the table. “Hell, it’s legal here. You could do a short ceremony here before you head home, Toby. Then have your mom plan a big one for when Jensen gets back from Everest. It could be a big celebration.”

Chapter Seven

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.

—Ann Landers

Toby had a feeling that Jigger had been joking at the restaurant, yet he couldn’t get the thought of marrying Jensen out of his head. What their friends had suggested seemed like a good idea. In a way, he wanted Jensen wearing his ring when he went to Everest. He had a strange feeling it would give him a bigger incentive to come home—not that he didn’t have one already.

Later that night, he slipped from Jensen’s trailer and wandered across the yard to Cat and Jigger’s house. They always left the back door unlocked in case Toby or Jensen wanted a midnight snack—or to use the bathroom. Toby took care of that problem then went to the kitchen to raid the refrigerator.

“Did we freak you out earlier talking about marriage?” Cat spoke from where she stood in the doorway leading to their rooms.

He’d heard her walk in, so when she voiced her question, he wasn’t surprised. Turning, he held up a bottle of apple juice. “You want something to drink?”

“Sure. At least it’s not coffee or soda. Caffeine this late at night gives me nightmares.” She padded over to the cupboard to get two glasses down. “Why don’t you grab the leftover pie? We can finish that.”

Toby did as she said, carrying everything to the table where she met him with the glasses and forks.

“Are you panicking about the idea of marrying Jensen?”

He shook his head. “No. Jensen spoke about us getting married and adopting children before we came out here. I told him we’d talk about all of that once he was done climbing. It didn’t seem fair to a child to have one of their parents gone half the time on dangerous adventures.”

Cat nodded. “I know. That’s why I’m done after Everest. I don’t want to leave Pamela an orphan if something bad were to happen to both of us during a climb. I mean, we’ll still go out, but not to the high altitude mountains. Just stick to the States.”

“I’m glad.” He took a bite of the lemon meringue pie then swallowed before he continued, “I know it’s none of my business how you live your life. I just can’t help but think that Pamela would lose out on not knowing you and Jigger if you were to die before she grew up.”

“You know that Jensen is her guardian, right? It’s all legal and everything. If something happens to us, you and him will get her to raise.” Cat giggled. “Not that I want anything bad to happen to us either, but I have to admit, I think that experience could turn out rather funny for you both.”

Toby shook his head. “She might end up scarred for life if we had to raise her.”

Cat tilted her head as she looked at him then pointed her fork at him. “You’re thinking about getting married here before you go home, aren’t you?”

He dropped his gaze to the pile of meringue in front of him. “Is it crazy to want to have one more thing to tie Jensen to me?”

She shook her head. “Oh honey. No, it isn’t crazy, though I have to say, Jensen doesn’t need a ring or a wedding vow to bring him back to you. You have his heart and, without it, he’s half a man. The last couple of climbs we’ve done together, he always seemed to be looking home instead of ahead, and when that happens, it’s only a matter of time before a climber calls it quits.”

“I don’t want him to change or stop doing what he loves,” Toby protested. “I simply want him to remember me when the siren winds of the mountains start luring him away. I want to give him a home he wants to return to. I never want him to feel obligated to come back.”

“He doesn’t. I’ve never seen him so eager to get back to the States. Before you reconciled, he loved to hang out with the other climbers, telling tall tales about some of their most harrowing climbs. Now we get off the mountain and he’s trying to figure out how soon he can get a flight out.” Cat chuckled. “I never thought I’d see the day, but it’s not a bad thing. You’ve become his lodestone, Toby, drawing him to you. You are his magnetic North and always will be.”

Toby relaxed into his chair, put at ease by Cat’s words. “So do you think we could pull off a wedding in only four days? I don’t know anything about the laws around here. How long does it take to get a marriage license granted in Wyoming?”

“We can check on it first thing tomorrow. Jigger and I didn’t get married here, so I don’t know the laws.” Cat clapped her hands in joy. “I can’t believe this. We’ll have to go shopping for rings as well.”

“Don’t get too carried away. I just want a little ceremony without any fuss, maybe even at the court house if we can’t find a minister to do it.” Toby cleared his throat. “Of course, Jensen might not want to do it so soon. He might want to wait until he gets back from your trip.”

Cat flapped her hands at him. “That’s crazy talk. Of course, he’ll want to marry you as soon as he can. If he’s already mentioned the possibility to you, then it’s been in his head for a while. You can talk to him in the morning and we can get the ball rolling.”

“Actually he doesn’t have to wait until morning.”

Toby started when Jensen appeared in the doorway from the back yard. He met his lover’s eyes and saw tears in them. After jumping to his feet, Toby raced over to cradle Jensen’s face in hands.

“Why are you crying? Don’t you want to get married? We don’t have to do it right now. We can wait until you’re ready,” Toby rattled on, so worried that Jensen didn’t want to marry him.

Jensen silenced him with a kiss, pulling him tight against his body. Toby whimpered as all the love Jensen felt for him became apparent as they embraced. Finally, when he didn’t have any more air in his lungs, he eased a few inches away, but Jensen rested his forehead against Toby’s.

“Never think that I don’t want to marry you, Toby Schwartzel. I have loved you for years and nothing would make me happier than to say ‘I do’ to you in front of a minister. I want it legal. I’ll rest easier, knowing you have my ring on your finger while I’m gone.” Jensen lifted the corner of his mouth in a slight self-derogatory expression. “I’m afraid you’ll come to your senses and let someone else sweep you off your feet while I’m away. But it’s harder to get rid of a husband than it is a boyfriend.”

Toby pinched Jensen’s side. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Jensen rubbed his abused flesh. “I know that, but I can’t help thinking it once in a while.”

“All right, you two. Get over here and help me finish this pie. We’ll talk about what we need to do. I have the rest of the week off, so I can go with you to the courthouse in the morning. We’ll see what hoops you need to jump through to apply for a marriage license. I’ll send Jigger to the church down the road from here. They seem like nice people and I know there are a few gay couples that go there. The minister shouldn’t be opposed to performing a wedding.” Cat started to click off things they needed to do.

Keeping Toby’s hand in his, Jensen led the way back to the table where Toby shared his fork with him. Toby couldn’t believe what they were about to do. He would have to call his mom in the morning and tell her. She wasn’t going to be happy, but if he explained that they would have a bigger one after Jensen returned, she might forgive them.

“Do you want to call your parents?” he asked Jensen during a lull in Cat’s organizing.

Shaking his head, Jensen said, “They couldn’t be bothered to visit or call me since I left for boarding school. I don’t need them to know anything about me. Your family, Cat, Jigger, and Pamela will be enough, though your mom might not be thrilled about us rushing this.”

“At least they don’t have worry that you’re pregnant,” Cat quipped and burst out laughing when they glared at her. “Oh come on. That was funny.”

Toby leaned against Jensen’s shoulder. “Your friends are crazy,” he announced to Jensen.

“Probably all those brain cells they’ve lost while climbing at high altitudes without oxygen,” Jensen conceded.

Cat huffed at them, but went back to working out all the things they needed to do to get even a small ceremony done in time. Toby’s heart gave a little flutter of joy. By the time he flew home to Connecticut, he was going to be Toby Schwartzel-Brockhoff. If he wasn’t the only Schwartzel boy, he wouldn’t even consider hyphenating his name, but he’d do it out of respect for his dad.

“I’m going to change my last name to Schwartzel,” Jensen spoke up, obviously thinking about the same thing as Toby.

He turned to face Jensen. “Are you sure? Aren’t you an only son like me?”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah, but my name doesn’t mean anything to me. I certainly don’t have any respect—or connection—to it, not like you have to yours. Plus I like your family.”

“My mom is going to be over the moon about this,” Toby confessed. “You’re going to have to prepare for a big gathering when you get home in June. You’ll get to meet the extended family and Dad will be bragging about your trip.”

The look of joy on Jensen’s face made Toby seriously think about what it must have been like for Jensen to be totally ignored his entire life. Where Toby might have rolled his eyes and been amused by his father’s bragging, Jensen was going to love it.

“I’ll make sure to bring back some souvenirs for them.” Jensen took a bite of the pie and made a face. “How can you guys like this sour shit?”

“It’s not that bad,” Cat said before taking a bite. “Do you want a little party here? I know there are some of the other guys who are going on our trip in the area. They’d love a reason to get together before we have to start training.”

Toby met Jensen’s questioning gaze. “It’s up to you. I’m fine with a party or just the five of us having a nice dinner in Laramie. They’re your friends.”

Jensen snorted. “I wouldn’t call them friends. They’re more acquaintances than anything else. You know what, Cat? I would love it just being the five of us. We can get a really nice dinner then Toby and I’ll get a hotel room for the night.”

“Why would we do that when we’ve got the trailer?” Toby thought he knew why, but he wanted to see what Jensen’s reason was.

“I’m not going to have our wedding night be in that ratty old trailer, Toby. I mean, it’s fine for a normal night, but not something special like that.” Jensen looked indignant.

He threw himself into Jensen’s arms, practically sitting on his lap at the table. “I wouldn’t care if we stayed in a yurt, as long as I was married to you.”

Jensen kissed him while Cat cackled in the background. When they were done, he turned to look at her. “What’s so funny?”

“Have you ever stayed in a yurt?”

Toby shook his head. “Of course not. There aren’t a lot of those around New York or Connecticut, for that matter.”

“I have a friend in Colorado who lives in one. Next summer you can come out here and we’ll go visit him. You can get a taste of living in a yurt, then you’ll think that trailer is a luxurious penthouse suite.” Cat paused then continued, “Or maybe you’ll love it and sell your nice house on the East Coast to move into one.”

“Not going to happen,” Jensen interrupted. “I get my full of living in a tent while on these climbing trips. I don’t want to come home to live in one here.”

Cat applauded. “Good point.”

Toby started to climb off Jensen’s lap, but Jensen wouldn’t let him. They snuggled together while cleaning up the last bites. When they were done, they helped Cat wash up before heading back out to the trailer.

Once there, Toby stripped off his clothes then climbed under the blankets and shivered. Even with the heater on, the bedroom was cold. He held out his hand to Jensen.

“Get under here with me. I need your body heat,” he whined.

Jensen stripped as well before crawling in next to him. Toby entwined his arms and legs around Jensen, getting as close to him as possible. Their cocks bumped and he groaned. Rolling on to his back, he drew Jensen with him.

Pressing his lips to Jensen’s ear, Toby whispered, “Make love to me.”

He was still stretched from earlier that night, so Jensen pressed his lube-covered erection slowly into Toby’s channel. Toby bit his bottom lip at the pressure, but didn’t break eye contact with Jensen.

Both of them froze when Jensen was all the way in. Toby cradled Jensen’s face in his hands.

“I love you, Jensen Brockhoff, and in a day or two, you and I will be married. We will belong to each other in the eyes of God and the law. No one can take this away from us, no matter what happens in the future.”

Jensen blinked and Toby could’ve sworn there were tears in his lover’s eyes as Jensen took a breath before saying, “I love you more than anything else in this world, Toby Schwartzel. I’m going to put a ring on your finger, so everyone know how lucky I am to have you as mine.”

With their vows said in the quiet darkness around them, Toby lifted his hips just a little to let Jensen know he could move. Slow and gentle strokes in and out. There was no rush or urgency in their love making right then. It was just moments spent feeling each other and imprinting the sound of Jensen’s breath washing over Toby’s ear and the scrape of the stubble on Jensen’s chin against Toby’s neck.

It felt as if it was their wedding night right there in the privacy of this rundown trailer Jensen had lived in for six years while trying to become a better man for Toby. Yet Toby would’ve told him back then—if Jensen had given him a chance—that Jensen was perfect.

Rocking into each thrust, Toby placed kisses along Jensen’s jaw, throat and chest, sucking small marks up at random spots. He wasn’t sure how long they lay there, locked together in their beautiful carnal dance, but when his climax hit him, it was a complete surprise.